Mars 30, 2010 @ 19:16:22 Foto ASP (C) COVERED IMAGES

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BELLS BEACH, Victoria/Australia - The opening two rounds of the Rip Curl Women's Pro presented by Ford Fiesta were completed today in punchy two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves breaking through the "Rincon" section of the point at Bells Beach.

The second stop on the 2010 ASP Women's World Tour, the Rip Curl Women's Pro Bells Beach plays a vital role in surfers setting their respective seasons up as they track down requalification points and the all-important ASP Women's World Title.

Chelsea Hedges (AUS), 26, former ASP Women's World Champion (2005), was the form surfer of the day, lighting up the lumpy afternoon righthanders with precision and speed on her backhand, collecting the day's high heat total of a 17.20 out of a possible 20.

"It was good fun," Hedges said. "Rincon when the tide comes off a bit it can be pretty fun, backside you can hook it a bit more. I just watched Silvana's heat before and she helped me out you know - she surfed so fast, so it was good to watch her before I went out."

After taking a sabbatical from full-time competition in 2008, Hedges has steadily re-built her position as one of the best female surfers in the world. Coming off a big win at the ASP 6-Star event in Western Australia last week, the momentum is soundly behind the powerful goofy-footer.

"I haven't won a contest for a while so that winning last week got me pumped up," Hedges said. "I got that feeling back again. So coming up to Bells, it was a perfect start. I'm taking each heat as it comes and trying to build momentum throughout the contest."

"We went on hold right before my heat and when we restarted it was still a bit inconsistent," Gilmore said. "I didn't really put up a decent score until halfway through the heat and I was hunting a backup until the last few minutes. It's a good start for me and I'm just focusing on one heat at a time."

A former two-time winner at the Rip Curl Women's Pro Bells Beach, Gilmore will be looking improve upon last season's Runner-Up finish when she lost a hard-fought Final to Lima.

"Definitely looking to go one better this season," Gilmore said. "Every year gets more challenging and the level of surfing seems to increase with each event."